


Rich Vision

by whoknowslad



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Bullying, Drinking, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Heavy Angst, Hurt/Comfort, I'm Sorry, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Light Angst, M/M, Past Abuse, Past Child Abuse, This Is Why We Can't Have Nice Things, i change and add a lot of things that are different, i don't know how to tag this is my first thing, i'm making frank and leo good friends because of rick's love triangle, i'm scared to post this, maybe a bit frank centic actually, my boy can be a badass okay, please don't kill me for it, sorry it's just an idea i had with a friend, they deserve a friendship, this gets dark at a point just saying, this is frazel centric, trigger warning
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-15
Updated: 2018-09-25
Packaged: 2019-06-10 15:53:23
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 14,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15294900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whoknowslad/pseuds/whoknowslad
Summary: At a young age, Frank's constantly wasted aunt, who had been taking care of him for as long as he could remember, threatened the kid at the age of 11 to leave the house. Not wanting to waste time being around her, he grabbed his belongings, hoping to never have to see her face. Two years later, stepping foot into New York he finds an interesting group of six his age that caught his eye. Coincidentally, he caught theirs as well.





	1. the backstory - 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [sophia garcia](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=sophia+garcia).



> this is my first fic i'm sorry it's bad i'm just starting off okay i don't know anymore. thanks sophia for convincing me to post this and maria for giving me the motivation to write this in the first place. i lose motivation a lot as well so idk how often i'll update but i hope you like it? sorry if not but oops

Arriving back from a quiet day at school for Frank was always the same routine—make sure the living room was clean, pick up bottles, make sure aunt was asleep, not dead, and do you homework. You’d think after, what seems like all his life, he would be used to it, yet every single time it seemed the same, it would change at the same moment. Today, was one of those days, and rather the one that seemed to change his life quite literally. Walking in, the aroma of the room was at its most revolting state, however, when was it ever really nice? After aunt divorced, she was quick to get together with someone else, or rather, something else, named alcohol. Day after day there seemed to be at least seven new bottles scattered upon the ground of the small home. Home. Certainly wasn’t a word Frank had truly used in his life besides giving an example of something he didn’t have. Taking care of his aunt was not his job, she was supposed to be taking care of him. That’s why he was in this stupid hell of a hole in the first place, there was no one else for it. The state of the living room showed she shouldn’t have been a choice either.

“Hi auntie.” Frank grumbled, already regretting opening his mouth in the first place.

“Kid, uhhh, Fletcher, do me a favor and hand some pills over. I’m gonna take a nap and I don’t want to be groggy when I wake up,” she slurred, though Frank couldn’t tell if it was from being drunk in the first place or actually being tired. 

‘Maybe both,’ he thought rolling his eyes to walk in and see her already passed out within a matter of seconds. “Silence it is then,” he whispered, knowing it wouldn’t end well if there was anything else at a louder volume. Slowly, he picked up all necessary to walk around the house without tripping and falling into a coma, though it seemed like quite an option. Slipping in his earbuds, he pressed play to a familiar playlist as the cleaning regularly took about and hour, hour and a half. It was at the end when he had finally finished that he messed up, walking up the stairs with his music folder in his grip, he managed to slip on some liquid that he seemed to miss, causing in a quick, yet effective fall. His papers flew in different directions out of his folder, and his head impacted by the step in front of him. He took a few seconds, groaning at the large pain now surging throughout his whole head before scrambling up to pick up the papers that had fell before his aunt had woken up.

“What was that?!” Came a demanding voice that belonged to the only other person in the household that Frank wished stayed asleep. He counted to ten in his head before turning around to see his aunt’s figure standing at the entrance of the hall, face automatically pulled into a grimace upon being disturbed from her ‘oh-so-important’ slumber.

“I uh…” His response was supposed to be perfectly reasonable and quick, yet his throat got caught at the sight of her. She had just woken up, yet it was like her hand was a magnet and any bottle except water was metal, waiting for the day it was in her grasp, the one she currently held being already half gone.

“Can’t you learn to shut up? I do everything around this house, I clean, I cook, I work, and you don’t even have the decency to let me sleep for a couple of hours? Ungrateful, completely ungrateful. I wonder how I even got stuck with you in the first place sometimes.” Frank’s teeth gridded against each other as she took the last swig to the now empty bottle.

“Sure, I’m the ungrateful one here.” Frank sneered, standing up though the room started to slightly tilt due to the previous injury.

“Excuse you, you’re not allowed to talk back. Especially not to me, I care about you and seeing you behave this way is not what I want from you.” She hissed. Care? Since when did that exist, specifically from her? She never cared, in fact, she just exemplified the complete opposite of care just a second ago, why was she saying she cared? The word alone coming from her mouth made Frank lose all sense of patience he had with her and he gave out a few sarcastic chuckles.

“Care about me? When was that a thing? Please oh please inform me. I’m honestly really curious because you, aunt Molly, do not care about anything besides booze and making sure everything under this roof feels like a prison. So don’t say you care, I know you don’t, and I’m sure anyone who looks at the state of you and this house can agree with me.” Frank fumed, turning his back to start walking up the stairs once again before,

SMASH.

It took a few seconds before little spots on his shoulder began to prickle as the broken glass around him and his aunt’s now empty hand made sense of the situation. A warm liquid oozed out of his skin and soaked the cotton shirt, also managing to drip down the left side of his back and chest as he heard the voice of her again.

“I want you out of my house. If I see you in the morning you won’t have a chance to do anything else except lay underground, you hear me? LEAVE.” She hissed, turning around to fall back into her world of cursed dreams once again. 

Tears hesitated to drop from the edges of Frank’s eyes as he crept upstairs without a second thought to do just as she said. Taking the biggest book bag he had, he stuffed it with the limited snacks he had, a few clothes, his charger for his iPod, and savings to last him about a month and a half. About the climb out the back window, he remembered two things that he had almost managed to forget. He opened his closet to grab the big case with a cringe as he had not wrapped the freshly opened wound. Setting down the bag, he took a few precautions to his previously rushed actions. Sliding on a band t-shirt, ripped black jeans, and a large coat after disinfecting and covering the injury, he slid in his music folder with the last space he had and hauled his guitar over his right shoulder, taking one last look inside his room before hopping down to the back and over the fence. This would be easy, he could just rent a hotel room for a night, the workers would realize he had no place to to stay, and report him to a new friendly home or let him stay, right? 

Wrong.

No one in Canada seemed to care about anything happening around them, at least, when it had to do with a kid. Renting a place to stay for one night took half his savings and a realization that this was going to probably only get worse from that point on.

All of this, at least it's what he swore to himself to say to anyone who asked. Never the truth, no. Of course not.


	2. discoveries - chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After about two years, Frank comes across a unique group of friends when being in the state of New York.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> uH OKAY SO QUICK THINGS:  
> i'm a person who either hears quotes from fan edits, shows, or videos and i'll make inspiration off of it, kind of like a prompt. so if you think you've heard it from somewhere or you recognize it completely-you're probably right. it'll happen quite often though, don't strangle me please :')
> 
> also edit: i realized WAY after i wrote this chapter that i got this idea from another i read, but i don't remember which i don't save them. but if anyone knows or if the creator of it somehow comes across this, if you want credit in any sort of way i'll give it just leave a comment. sorry and ty! enjoy i guess uh

And it did. Every single day for a year was like a maze that made Frank miss the same horrid routine with his witch of an aunt. His hair grew out too long for his liking as the dirty mane could be picked up into a bun that was messily tied towards the back of his head as he ran from the cops. Turns out stealing food from a gas station towards New York wasn’t the best option when you were already weak from all the walking prior to that moment. Still, location after location, he wound up in the quite diverse city of Brooklyn. Well, at least that’s where he assumed he was, passing a sign while running into the woods and climbing up a tree to hide the food he managed to escape with knowing he might be there for a while.

It was the noise down by the creak that perked his attention and he twisted his head towards the direction of laughter and splashing feet in the water. He kept a mental note to what tree he was currently on, hopping down to a branch below him, then to the grass, following the noise. His eyebrows furrowed as the sight of kids his age joked around and had…fun. Something that seemed so rare and unfamiliar to him. The sight took him away, the genuine smiles on their faces, the soft and loud laughter coming from there chests and stomachs depending on the person or joke. Their noise was cut off, and two mentioned the sound they had heard, checking with the others that it wasn’t only them as they all began to look around for the source of the disruption. When did they hear whatever they did? What was it-

‘Oh, gods-‘ Frank thought, looking down to see he had snapped a branch quite loudly in his trance. His eyes grew the size of baseballs as his head shot up to make eye contact to the boy with almost a fringe and sea green eyes. One, two, slow steps back before breaking out into a full dash back into the camouflage of the forrest, springing up slightly as his hand gripped a branch and the emphasis of his jump swung his body around the tree arm before he was able to land on it in a Spiderman-like stance. Meanwhile, Percy’s curiosity was sparked,

“Guys! Over there, I saw him!” He yelled before sprinting down the same path he had seen Frank run into, quick enough to observe his shortcut to fully climbing the tree to get where he was. The other five followed him in, Leo bumping into Percy’s back, causing the other to lose the tree his attention was so focused on as Hazel was the first to speak up.

“What exactly did you see again? You said ‘him,’ was it a guy?” She questioned aloud, as Percy crept towards the area he had been previously studying with them following despite their confusion on the situation.

“Yeah. At least I think it was, from what I saw. He was our age, I’m sure of it, taller than Hazel, though most people are.”

“Hey!” Hazel yelled, punching the other’s shoulder, with their attention quickly being cut off by a slight chuckle coming from the top right of them. All looked up only to see the darkness of the tree’s shade, and within that darkness, bright yellow eyes that seemed to be moving more towards where they would all be able to see it, whatever it was. 

“Um, Perce, I don’t think that’s a kid. Those eyes certainly don’t seem like one.” Leo spoke up, voice quavering slightly.

“Oh please, we just heard him laugh! Don’t be rude.” Percy stated, not taking his eyes off the conceded ones. “Maybe he’s scared because there’s too many of us HERE-“ The volume of Percy’s voice raised as upon saying that statement, Frank’s torso and above swung upside down, his legs keeping him elevated from the ground and the rest of them, coming face-to-face with the green-eyed boy. Certainly was a new face for them all, and all their faces being new for Frank as silence fell over them like a large blanket. They all studied the facial features of one another before Percy, being the leader in the circumstance, decided to speak first. “Uhhhh…hi? The name’s Percy.” He introduced, holding his hand out for the other to shake. Frank hesitated before swinging himself back up into the darkness of the tree.

“Awww, you scared it!” Leo puffed, however, right after, Frank’s body jumped down from the branch landing in a crouch before standing up to his full height. Not taller than Percy, practically the same exact height, Frank being maybe and inch or two smaller due to not enough nutrients for proper growth. Percy seeing Frank’s right hand stop from reaching forward to his, noticing the way it was wrapped in medical bandages and how they disappeared under the sleeve of his sweater. Before thinking again, Frank’s hand grasped around Percy’s, shaking it slightly,

“Frank.” He spoke simply as his voice sounded like his throat had been scratched raw with sandpaper due to the lack of use. 

“I like your hair!” Leo shouted, earning him an elbow to the chest by Piper who gave him a scowl. “What?! It’s a compliment!” He protested, yet saw Frank’s small nod as a thank you.

“I should probably introduce the rest then, um, here’s Annabeth, Leo, Piper, Jason, and Hazel.” Percy presented, gesturing at each as he spoke. “What are you doing out here? I don’t think I’ve seen you around campus, I’m pretty sure I would recognize you.” He asks, yet received no response. Frank was afraid he would break his voice more by talking with it in its current state, going to the next best option and signing,

‘I don’t go to school here, I’m from Canada. Well, rather, I was.’ To which Annabeth was quick to interpret from and translate for the others. 

“What do you mean ‘was?’ You word it like you haven’t been there in forever, and you sure look like it too.” Hazel responds with a slight scowl. She had been raised to avoid germs and strangers at all costs, so seeing a dirty random boy screamed ‘Disgusting Danger’ in ways indescribable to her. Frank simply shrugged with a guilty smile, not wanting to talk about himself or his past at the moment.

“Are you saying you haven’t? I mean, I think I can sneak you into mine for a shower and, I don’t know, a meal?” Percy suggested, and though the idea made his mouth water itself, he was quick to shake his head no. 

‘Leave a boy to his trees, it’s alright. Thank you though, but I’ll be out by morning and I just met you guys. I don’t want to inconvenience you.’ He signed looking behind them all to see the sun setting, ‘I think you all might want to start heading home, it’s getting dark, nice meeting you!’ Frank finished off before hopping off into the trees again and next to his items, watching them stray for a little while before walking back from where they came from, causing Frank to let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Though the interaction was short, that was the most time with any other person he had ever had in the past year.

“I wonder where he’s gonna go next, or how he’s going to sleep comfortably, a tree can definitely hurt your back.” Percy pondered aloud, already intrigued by the new boy.

“I’m sure he’s used to it, and it’s revolting. He smells like a sewer and anyone who wanders around in clothes in that state is definitely not someone I want to waste my time thinking about and you shouldn’t either Perce. Like he said, he’ll be gone in the morning.” Hazel spat, wrapping her arms around her torso at the thought of all the germs everything has, to which Percy simply rolled his eyes to. At the corner of the sidewalk, they all split apart bidding their goodbyes til the next day, as Percy took one last look back towards the trees and pedaling off to the direction of his home.

Meanwhile, during the night while the rest had gone home, Frank laid under the stars admiring them as the soft tunes of “To Wish Impossible Things” fed through his somehow still working earbuds. Until it started to pour of course. To which Frank did his best to cover himself, muttering a small “Great.” As the force of how it started gave off the hint that it might take a while to stop.

————————————

The sun had already reached it’s peak, yet still seemed invisible to those under it as the large cotton candy clouds covered it and continued to drop their tears below them. In fact, since last night all were convinced it hadn’t stopped, and to think that it was so sudden as well. Still, Percy pulled over his bright yellow poncho and started his path down the road to Hazel’s house, as they agreed on the day before. He knocked lightly on the door, rocking a little as he waited for the door to open. There was something he was worried about, something oddly specific that he couldn’t seem to remember. Whatever it was was quickly forgotten as Percy’s head twisted towards the door, to face Hazel.

“Hey,” He smiled, about to enter before Hazel stopped him.

“Shoes and poncho off, you’re gonna wet the floor and increase the chances of one of us slipping. Also, mom is sleeping so we need to be quiet.” Hazel was always one so cautious and careful, truth be told, due to her mom and the lady’s constant berating of how within a touch she could catch something so deadly she wouldn’t even be able to lift her head. Being told how quickly you can die at such a young age can do something to you, hence the smaller one always taking precautions before anything else. As for her mother, it was portrayed that she just always wanted to ‘look out for her’ at all times, yet from the way she did it, it only grew more of a dislike from hazel to her. Of course, she could never express any of it aloud, knowing her mom she would probably break down and contradict her only to lock her in her room telling her to think about what she had just said. Even with all of that, Percy did just as she said leaving his fully black shoes by the side of the door and hung his still wet poncho on the coat hanger right to where he left his footwear. Once inside the room, they played dozens of games such as Jenga, Chinese Sticks, and-a classic-Monopoly, throwing around jokes as their company to each other were like brother and sister. However, Percy’s face fell when his mind strayed back to the missing thought after looking outside to see the wind still blowing the trees harshly to one direction as a crackle of thunder struck somewhere North of where they were. His eyes trailed back to the set of cards from the UNO game they were currently competing with.

“Hazel…do you think we should be worrying about something right now? I feel like there’s something we’re forgetting, or rather I’m forgetting, and I don’t know if it’s important.”   
————  
Frank was drenched and shivering from head to toe as the rain came down harder the more he walked. He wrapped his arms on himself, stumbling around trying his best to walk straight no matter how much his body seemed to be against it, or walking in general due to it’s low energy. 

“Where…a…m I, even…going?” He slurred to himself attempting to make sense of where he was and which direction he was even going in. In the middle of the street, he felt himself start to lower down to the ground as black dots spotted his vision before blacking out completely.

————

As if on cue, and before Hazel could respond, a loud shriek came from outside the home. Both their heads snapped towards the window as it reached their ears, Percy’s brows furrowing as he dropped his cards and was quick to his feet to look out of it. Hazel, on the other hand, used her knees to carry herself towards it. Right upon reaching it Percy’s eyes grew wide and turned to race out the room, down the stairs, and out the front door. 

“Percy! Percy, what is it?!” Hazel yelled after him, following him as fast as she could and catching sight of her still sleeping mother on the couch before exiting. She looked around for Percy’s figure before spotting him crouching down next to another, causing her to quicken her pace towards them both. “What is it?” She asked again, hoping this time he would answer. 

“It’s Frank.” Percy states, sounding sure as he recognized the hairdo and wrapped hands. Except, he didn’t look the same as he did the day before despite the little they both saw of him. His skin was a sickly pail, finger tips and lips a mixture of purple and blue despite the rest of him being as white as a fresh sheet of paper. At first, Percy thought he might of been a dead corpse right in front of them, yet still felt his wrist for a pulse. It took him a while, but there was something. Something very very weak. “We need to get him to a hospital, he’s definitely anything but okay right now.” Percy announced, tone worried.

“The nearest hospital is miles away, we’re kids, we can’t drive there and no one else is going to, you know that. We won’t be able to reach it.” Hazel informed Percy, making him think of the next best option and giving her a look that she seemed to understand. “No, no. You’re insane, we ARE NOT taking him inside my house. I’m not letting you,” she called out.

“Hazel, come on! I get it you don’t like germs and to you he’s like…I-I don’t know, a leper, but he’s just like us. You can’t just leave him here putting all that aside!” Percy protests, Hazel lingering before huffing,

“Fine! But you’re carrying him in, and don’t let my mother see him she’ll kill us all.” Hazel reaches for his two drenched bags, one she recognizes as a guitar case before starting her way back to her house. Percy on the other hand, prepped himself to try and lift the other bridal style, only to be taken off guard at how light Frank actually was. Did this kid even eat? It’s like he was make of skin and bones with some air to space everything out. He decided to store that information for a different time and he did his best to creep the other up the stairs behind Hazel. 

“Where do I put him?” He whispers, looking down at the boy in his arms. Even unconscious he was shivering like no tomorrow.

“Definitely not in my room, um…maybe the bathroom? The bathroom in…the basement! I don’t think mom will look down there.” Hazel whisper-yelled before turning back around and dropping the stuff off by the couch they had and leading Percy into the bathroom where they laid Frank down in the tub. “You figure out what’s wrong with him, I’m gonna change out of these clothes before I get sick. If you want to later, you still have some here as well as the others from the last sleepover.”

“Alright, thanks. Actually-do you have any for him? I don’t think his clothes are helping him right now.” Percy asks, knowing the temperature wet clothes can drop you to.

“I mean, I can’t give any of the other clothes, they’re still too short even if I could find a blanket for him. I’ll see what I can get.” Once Hazel leaves, Percy looks around the basement outside of the small bathroom he was currently in. He had never known about this, in fact, it looked rather cozy, so he wondered why as well. There was a twin sized bed pushed to the right corner with blue and white sheets as well as an empty dresser and even a table to dine on if anyone decided to come down here to eat in the first place. Percy was reminded of the task-at-hand with a very dry and wheezy-like cough coming from the sickly one in the tub, his chest rising and lowering too slow for Percy’s liking. He still wasn’t awake, but it was still nice to know he was still there with them, the last thing they needed was to experience death after everything all of them had been through. Just on time, Hazel came padding down the steps walking to them with her arms full, first dropping a blanket over Percy’s shoulders, his clothes still wet from not that long ago, then explaining the rest of what she held. “I couldn’t find much, but I think this will be okay? My mom had some old sweaters she doesn’t wear anymore since she started exercising due to all her job stuff now. But still, there’s this and these fluffy pajama pants as well. She won’t notice their gone so it’s okay, though uh…how do you expect to put this on him?”

“I’ll have to try, right?” Percy suggested, stripping off the drenched coat, and hesitating before prying off the shirt as well. It exposed his pail skin with a scratches, bruises and scars galore, the fact that his ribs poked through his skin without any effort not helping either. The kid helping him out couldn’t help but feel guilty to a degree, being quick to pull the gentle yellow sweater over his torso and exchange his soaking black ripped jeans for the soft scruffy pants Hazel had brought instead. Lastly, covering him with the large fluffy blanket almost identical to the one draping over him himself. Within a span of about ten to fifteen minutes, the color of his lips turned back to a kind pink as well as his fingertips. “Do you think we should put him on the bed? Is it okay-I mean,” he asked.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s okay. No one uses it anyways,” Hazel shrugged, watching Percy carefully scoop the other up in his arms again, almost as if touching him with too much force would break the one in his arms, placing him down on the mattress. After doing so, Percy went up to change only to come back down to a knocked out Hazel. Though it wasn’t long before he was out as well.


	3. baby steps - 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The group make progress in helping Frank adapt to their lives wanting to help, and maybe it starts off with a day out. Of course, imperfections are always there in one's day, but they learn something new and strange about Frank with his actions too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hhhhhhh i might edit this later and remove some things so it can add them later in a better scenario this is moving way too quick for my liking. oh yeah this chapter is about 10,000 words, just a heads-up.

Percy woke up, wiping the tired out of his eyes, and doing his best to look forward as his sight adjusted to the light after being enclosed under his eyelids for so long. The first thing his eyes focused on was the boy sitting up on the bed, hand covered by the sweater yet playing with something hanging around his neck. Was it a necklace, maybe? It seemed the most reasonable, yet Percy hadn’t noticed it when having to exchange the boy’s top. Either way, he didn’t seem to be paying attention so Percy decided to speak up first, calmly as the boy might still be a bit shaken. “Hey, glad to see you’re awake,” he greeted, as the other’s head was quick to turn towards his direction with no response. “Okay, I can’t say I’m expecting you to speak after what we saw. Oh! Uh, hah, um...the clothes were kind of necessary since the other ones you were wearing just made you colder so sorry about that, if there was any questions there.” Percy looked over to his side at the still sleeping Hazel, deciding what would be best for the boy as he got up to grab another set of clothes. “I’ll be right back,” he says before creaking the steps going up, to the place he remembered Hazel mentioning where the set of her mom’s old clothes were. A lot of the same thing, apparently, him just deciding to grab another soft blue sweater and green stretchy pajama pants yet knowing the underwear could be one of his own clean pairs that he leaves just in case of a sleepover. With that, he pats back down the steps, finding Frank simply looking around at where he was. “So, I got you clothes and a towel so you can shower since you’re still technically covered in rain water, and if you’re wondering, this is Hazel’s house—well, rather basement, but that’s not important. Here,” Percy stops himself from rambling, pushing his arms forward as Frank eyes flicked down from the boys face to the clothing laying in his arms for him to take. He wanted to thank him aloud, but didn’t have the energy to speak anytime soon. Instead, he used careful, and still slightly shaking hands, to grab the offering and nodded his head once, hoping the other understood. Luckily, he did, Percy mentioning another sentence quite quietly as the other was still asleep. “No problem, the bathroom is over there by the way.” Frank looked over, getting up slowly, and hesitating before shutting the door. While he showered, Hazel had cracked her eyes open, stretching her arms out, seeing Percy playing on his DS. Eyes on the bed, she began to panic internally before hearing the shower running and putting the pieces together. 

“How long have you two been up?” She asks, Percy not taking his eyes off the screen.

“About an hour I would say, he’s been in the bathroom for fifteen minutes though.” Percy responds, right after, hearing the water shut off. Frank walked out a total of ten minutes later, the other clothes he had been wearing in his arms as he looked guiltily at them gesturing to it. Percy popped to his feet, announcing an ‘I got it’ as he went back up to put them in the laundry. Meanwhile, Hazel used the moment to study the kid that would apparently be living with her now. At least, it seemed to be the outcome. He didn’t seem as bad as she first thought after seeing him in the past few hours. The pajama pants went over his feet, clearly too big for him, as well as the sweater, it falling off his left shoulder against his will, revealing a few spattered scars from the glass of ‘The Day.’ Frank sat back down on the sheets, covering his crossed legs with the blanket laying upon the bed before catching Hazel’s eyes. Instead of speaking up or judging her for looking at him, he waved shyly at her stature, her waving back slightly as Percy came back down the steps once again. Percy plopped himself down beside Hazel, all knowing that the whole situation needed to be sorted out. “Alright, I already phoned the others to come over because I think we all already know by now that I’m not going to let you back out just for something like what happened yesterday to maybe happen again or worse. Plus! You seem pretty cool, and I know this might be weird for you, but first...we’re you going anywhere in specific or?” Percy started off, to which Frank shook his head to. “So are you okay with all of this then, if I have the chance to help someone I will so don’t worry about this too much-“

“Perce, you’re rambling don’t scare him. He probably doesn’t even know us enough to be comfortable to sleep here,” Annabeth states, looking at the other as she stood at the bottom of the stairs. 

“How’d you get in?” Hazel asks, Annabeth being quick to respond, 

“Your mom opened the door for me.” Stepping down to walk over where Percy and Hazel were both sitting. Crossing her arms, she studied the boy sitting awkwardly and nervously while playing with his hands subconsciously. “What about a basic question: are you hungry? We could get you something to eat if you want?” To which Frank made no signs of a yes or no, shifting his eyes to the right and back to her. 

“I’m gonna get him something anyway, he’s actually a human twig.” Hazel states, about to head up the stairs before Frank’s eyes widened, him scrambling to his feet and catching her wrist in a gentle yet effective grip to stop her in a matter of seconds. Hazel faced him in surprise as Frank did his best to gesture with his hand that he was fine by using an open hand to his chest and a thumbs up, nodding with it. Hazel’s expression turned unsure with a hint or worry in her eyes as well as Percy’s while Annabeth simply knew what was to happen later. 

“Sup, bitches!” Leo exclaimed, almost tumbling down the stairs with a load of snacks in his hands Piper and Jason following behind him, both rolling their eyes at his greeting. Frank dropped Hazel’s wrist, stepping back and sitting at the edge of the bed, Hazel finding her place as well as the others joined them. Leo threw his arms out spewing out the array of treats containing chips, candies, a few sodas as well. “I heard my boy was going to be here, so I thought I should make this a proper welcome to us losers here,” he smiled, bowing. “Plus, it’s gonna be awkward if we just sit here talking so...” Leo added in, going over to sit on the rug-covered floor to the right of Frank, putting his back up slightly against the wall. Each picked up their desired snack, sitting back down, yet Frank remained grounded to the edge of the bed. Everything in front of him was things he was never allowed to have. Even the mention of it earned an hour long ramble of how he was never grateful for what he had already, so the flavor of the large chocolate bar or cheddar covered chips was atypical to his tongue. “You gonna get anything? We gotta talk about where you’re gonna stay, might as well.” Leo spattered through a large bite of the Snickers bar in his hand.

“I-I mean, he can stay here if he wants. My mom isn’t that bothered if she doesn’t know about it, and she doesn’t come down here. Though, she might have to know him a little if he ever comes upstairs or hangs out with us or else she won’t allow me to do anything since she doesn’t like anyone she doesn’t know.” Hazel informed, to which each—except Frank—took the time to think about and nodded, agreeing with the decision. 

“What do you say about that?” Leo asks facing up towards the almost hazel-eyed looking boy, who didn’t say a word. “Wait, can he even understand us?” He questions, getting up and in front of Frank speaking slowly, dragging out each word he was to say, “Hello, my name is Leo...yes? Is that o-kay with you? Say yes, or no.” With that Frank still sat silently, staring the other in the eyes neutrally. “Alright, I give up,” Leo sighs, plopping back down to where he was exaggeratedly. It was what happened after that seemed to be a little progress for them all, which was Frank cracking a small giggle at the trashmouth’s actions. He tried to hold it back, but looking at him made it hard to, as they all looked at him slightly smiling to themselves at their achievement. The smile looked good on him anyway, so they decided to keep on with the topic, Percy internally thanking Leo for breaking the tension in the room.

“Actually, I have another concern. Um, what about his clothes? He’s been living off the ones in his bag for a while and i’m pretty sure washing them still won’t do justice. I mean, he can’t live off my mom’s old clothes forever either—“

“Wait, Hazel, isn’t today your mom’s ‘shopping day?’” Percy interrupts,

“Well, yeah, why?” She questions.

“Today your mom could meet him, couldn’t she? Maybe you could ask her if he could go out with you guys today? If you think that’s okay, of course.” Percy responded, to which Hazel pondered a little before nodding. 

“I actually think that’s okay, she could ‘get to know him’ so we could hang out with him normally, I guess. Then again, if she sees him with her clothes that might be hard to explain.” She told them, to which Jason spoke up.

“I have an idea, what if we all pitched in to get him an outfit? I have a lot of clothes I don’t wear because my mom likes to buy things without asking—but maybe? I don’t know, do you guys have anything else?” He questions, looking around suggestively. Leo seemed to be spacing out slightly while still chewing on the chocolate bar, only a few seconds later, almost choking on it from the sudden response to what Jason had said. 

“MMM! My grandpa is the one who usually doesn’t pay attention, I could probably ask him for a bit of money for a present and help out with that? But that would have to be now, wouldn’t it? Y’know, the sooner the better?” The other five had all agreed, taking a few more minutes to run over everything. They had time, after all, it was only about nine in the morning—a bit too early for kids their age to be up, but still. After doing so, they all agreed to meet back up in about two, two and a half hours to get everything sorted out. They we’re going to help, even if they just met him. It was unspoken, but all internally thought that maybe, just maybe, there was something special about him.

———————

It was about ten when Frank realized he still hadn’t done anything. All of these kids here treating him so kindly, even with barely knowing him. Did it not bother them that he just looked so…wrong? A thirteen year-old Chinese boy, with a need of a haircut, no signs of his past, mute—as of now—and poor as hell? The whole feeling of being ca-…taken care of was so new to him. Of course, being a run down and rather mysterious child, it was easy for everyone in the park and halls to take the other side instead of approaching him. He wasn’t that bad, was he? He knew things, at least he thought so, being a straight ‘A’ kid could mean something like that, right? Frank’s mind had gone back to the matter at hand, he still didn’t feel ready to speak—not like anyone really listened to him before for him to not be used to that feeling—yet, the least he could do was thank them. It took about 3 minutes before he found what he needed, holding the sheet of paper on the coffee table down while scribbling a sincere thank you note without giving off anything much about himself at all. He wasn’t used to any of the words he was writing down, he never had a reason to use them. Still, thinking of what they were doing for him out of sheer kindness made them flow out of his pen quite nicely. It was later when five out of the six came silently down the steps, Hazel staying upstairs to ask her mother about the whole ’taking out’ situation. “Uhh, mom?” She asked peeking around the corner.

“Yes?” Ms. Levesque replied, putting together her purse while standing by the kitchen counter.

“My friends and I actually met this new kid Frank, a-at our school, and I was wondering if he could go out with us today for you to know him, and…stuff.” Hazel stuttered, not meeting her mother’s eyes until the end. Her mother had looked at her a few seconds after she had finished her request, taking a few minutes to process the question.

“I mean, sure, if he’s ready. After all we’re about to leave in an hour, but I’m sure it’ll be okay—whoever he is.” Her mom shrugged, smiling a small smile, finishing up with the mess she had cleaned out from her bag. “I’m going to go get ready, you let me know if he’s tagging along, okay?” 

“Alright, t-thank you!” Even with all her mum had scared her with before, most had to reason she wasn’t really that bad of a mother. Of course, she could be strict—hence the needing to meet a new person, and the staying away from germs, but really that was more protective than anything else. Hazel let her mother walk into her room before racing her way down the steps of the basement where she saw those who brought clothes for Frank, Jason having the most, piling them up on the side of him on the bed. “She said yeah, to Frank coming along by the way. She just said we’re leaving soon so…”

“Great! I want him to wear this outfit, here go change,” Leo smiled handing Frank some folded up clothes and pushing him off into the bathroom, smiling excitedly. 

“You sure being out with him will be fine? We could always try another time if you don’t want to right now.” Percy questioned, facing towards the other

“No no, it’s fine! You’re all giving him a chance, it’s best that I do too, right? And like Leo said, the sooner the better.” Frank took about ten minutes in the bathroom, the kids outside talked amongst themselves in the time before frank stepped out. Nothing exciting, he changed, a normal thing to do. It was how he felt that was new, being in clean clothes that were admittedly quite big for him small stature. Leo had supplied him with a pink long sleeve, on top was solid black overalls, as well as black and white high tops. Something Frank had never imagined himself, yet were comfortable enough for him not to complain.

“Hey! It works, I knew it!” Leo announced proudly at his choice of clothes on the smaller one—composition wise. “You just need to do this,” he says, walking up to Frank to lock the button holding the right side of the overalls. However, Frank hadn’t heard him, only looking up to hands in front of him. His body reacted for him as it took him less than a second before his fingers were wrapped around the darker boy’s wrists, holding them in place as he realized what he just did. He let go, apologizing quietly, and though Leo couldn’t exactly hear him, he understood what was said. “It’s alright, I was just going to fix this, sorry for scaring you,” Leo complied guiltily. He clipped the buckle, stepping back and admiring his work dramatically. “He’s a boy ready to go!” Leo smiled, as they took in consideration how they needed to leave before Hazel’s mom had went looking for Hazel only to find them all. Of course, they still had about thirty minutes left, yet Ms. Levesque had already almost been fully ready. Plus, she was a quick woman, so multitasking was easy for her. They all bid their goodbyes and hoped for the best, Hazel going up with them to also tell her mother that Frank was tagging along. The five quietly exited before she did so, her walking back down the steps of the basement to see Frank sitting cross-legged on the rugged floor, playing with his shoelaces subconsciously. She looked at how his posture was slightly bad, the way his hair was picked up from being too long, wondering if he liked it that way. Still, she sat on the opposite side of him, looking towards his bags that had the newly gifted clothes next to them, remembering how one wasn’t for clothes. 

“So, you play the guitar?” Hazel started, trying her best at a conversation, still knowing he might not talk. Frank’s head shot up at the sound of her voice that cut through the silence of the room, to which he nodded. “Cool, have you been playing for a while? I’ve only tried the uke, and my brother tried the piano for like a month, so we have one upstairs. I haven’t touched it though.” Frank’s brows perked up at the mentioning of the piano. He hadn’t played it for so long and his fingers were crawling with wanting to feel the slick keys under them again. Either way, he used his hand to make a so-so motion even though he knew very well that he’s been playing for as long as he can remember. Hazel pondered before thinking of something else she could ask related to music, it being the obvious interesting topic for him. “What about singing? I mean, I know you haven’t talked, but I kind of just think it’s because we’re new people to you.” Frank didn’t know how to answer this one with motioning, so he opted for the paper again. Upon getting it, he remembered the note he had forgotten to give to Percy, deciding to sign it off and hand it to Hazel, it saying it was for them all for when they were there. She looked down at it and nodded, waiting patiently and he scribbled down his answer. ‘No, I wish I could though. Kind of sucks, as I’ve wanted to. You?’ He wrote, facing it towards her as she read. “I mean, I can. A-At least I’d like to think I can I don’t really know. Is the guitar the only thing you play though? And wait-you’re left-handed? Why? That’s so weird.” She laughed softly, giving her comment the joking tone she was aiming for. The quiet boy had gotten as far as the shake of his head for the first question, going to the pad to explain, only to be stopped at the sound of Ms. Levesque’s voice, calling for Hazel. She pushed herself up off the floor, yelling a response that she was there, telling Frank to follow behind her as they both padded towards the living room to see Hazel’s mom grabbing her keys from the counter. Once Frank saw the two next to each other, he could already see which of her two parents she got most features from.

“Hey, you ready? Is Frank on his wa-oh! Never mind then, hello dear. I’m Hazel’s mom.” She smiled, reaching out her hand for him to shake. That was pretty common as a greeting here, wasn’t it? Either way, Frank hesitated once again before reaching forward and doing the same motion as he remembered, nodding slightly to let her know he acknowledged her words, which he noticed he’d also been doing a lot. Again, most of this was still new to him, so keeping quiet and deciding to ‘learn’ things as he went seemed easier than any other option. “Not much of a talker are you? That’s alright, you can head out to the car though I’ll be there in a second.” Frank was thankful that she didn’t scold him for the lack of words, taking careful steps to the door. Hazel, about to go the same direction, was once again stopped by her mother. “He hasn’t said anything, but he’s actually kind of adorable, don’t you think Hazel?”

“Mom! What the heck?” Hazel exclaimed, faced pulled up in disgust and slight embarrassment, having both of them just met the kid. 

“I’m joking! I’m joking! Just get to the car, come on.” She responded, shooing her daughter towards the door as they both walked out, Marie (her mother’s real name) making sure to lock the front of the house before joining the two in the car. “Make sure to put on your seatbelts, you two.” Frank was confused at first, trying to process and successfully comply to her words, yet not knowing the meaning of it. He had mostly and almost only ridden a bike and longboard—which he left there—his entire life, and the times he was in the car, seatbelts were never mentioned. Still, looking towards the girl to the left of him, he was able to follow her movements just the same as if nothing. It was a quiet ride for the most part, besides the soft tunes flowing out of the radio to fill the vehicle. “So how did you guys meet again?” Hazel stiffened a little, looking at Frank for a second before coming up with a quick lie.

“A bunch of teachers are doing partner assignments in school and I somehow got partnered up with him in both criminal law and algebra I. Percy got him in psychology and we decided to talk to him, I guess.” She shrugged, thinking the lie was reasonable enough. 

“That’s nice, do you think you’re doing okay in classes right now?” The mom questioned, carrying on the conversation for just a little longer as she drove.

“Classes are fine, criminal law is an actual pain though. Apparently some kids found out that the homework he gives out are actually unsolved crimes very similar to ones actual detectives can’t figure out or just pure college work. We’re in seventh grade, I don’t know how he expects us to get the right answers, especially to the ones that don’t even have answers yet.” Hazel ranted. It had been bothering her after all, and if she had the moment to express it she would. The conversation, however, ended there, them letting the soft tunes fill their ears once again. Frank however, always made sure at all times that the small music pod he carried with him was always charged. If anything, he cared for it more than he cared for himself through all this time. He would keep a song on depending on his surroundings and mood. As of today, things actually, for once, seemed to be going nicely which was a rather large change for his usual daily schedule of things he had no control over. Making sure to hit replay on the song ‘Call me - 90sFlav’ he let his head be taken away to wander, resting his head against the window. The ride was about thirty minutes, not very long considering that they were going downtown to shop, after all. Maria pushed the button to eject the ticket they would later use to leave the parking lot, taking—what felt like half an hour—to find a spot to rest the engine. Once getting out of the lot, it wasn’t long before Hazel’s eyes lit up at the sight of colorful letters reading ‘Midtown Comics.’ She didn’t hesitate to raise her voice to ask if she could go, though she was already two steps away from the entrance. Marie, already used to the request, didn’t resist and instead followed her inside as she marveled at the merchandise, even with seeing it plenty of times before. Meanwhile, Frank wandered around behind her, simply admiring the art and colors of everything. Hazel picked up two yarn-like keychains with black beads for eyes, resembling both Spiderman and Iron man. “Who do you like better from marvel?” She questioned, looking up to the boy in front of her. His eyes shifted to the side before shrugging, facial features reading ‘lost’. “Marvel? You know, Thor, Hulk, Vision, Spiderman, Iron man, et cetera?” Hazel continued, raising a brow and the keychain characters as she mentioned their names. Frank simply shrugged once again, shaking his head to show her where he stood. She, however, was in complete disbelief. “You’ve never watched a Marvel Studios mov-oh my gods. That’s something I’ve never heard before in my entire life. I can promise you you will against your will though, I’m sure you’ll like it. If anything you kind of remind me of Peter Parker.” Hazel commented, squinting while holding the Spiderman toy next to Frank. It was a little more searching before they walked out, Hazel happily swinging her bag with the small keychains of seven different characters from the section. One for each of them, though none except her knew about it yet. Still, the next two stores were Marie’s request, the look of ‘Urban Outfitters’ rung her interest by a desirable amount. She didn’t walk about with anything, however, Frank sitting upon the table where the mannequins were displayed in the front of the store. It was every now and then where his vision would fade out for a second or three due to the lack of nutrients. Still, he sat twirling the shoelaces of the new footwear around his slim, dry fingers. He promised himself internally to thank them with more than a note when he had the chance, as of now, if he were to try and give anything back he would just be back to where he started. Of course, he could just tell them to not worry about it so he wasn’t a bother and keep on going, but—as selfish as it sounded—it felt nice having someone accept you for even a moment. With them not turning their backs so quickly upon the look of him, he thought there could be a slight chance that those two years, and even before paid off. Maybe this was it.

“Frank hun, c’mon, we’re done.” Frank’s head looked up to the left where both Maria and Hazel stood, getting up and following them out to the next store. Much like the last, Frank and even Hazel had no interest in what it held, being jewelry. He remembered seeing the name of one goddess atop it from the book he used to read repeatedly at night. Still, Maria surveyed the charms in all protecters, a little upset at how it seemed the prices grew every time she visited. In the end, however, she did end up purchasing a bead with a rose quartz stuck between silver that was etched with small patterns going all around. Figuring to get rid of the few bills she peculiarly had inside her wallet, she paid with the green sheets going to leave, already telling the kids that they’d best be on their way. The cashier interrupted by raising her voice to reach the mother, asking her if she still wanted the receipt, seeing that she had forgotten it at the counter. Marie turned around, just to feel a force pull her by her right arm right after, her head snapping towards the direction. It was a rather slim guy, probably in his early thirties that took off with the bag in the exact direction he pulled in. Her first thought process was to chase after the man, yet knowing she couldn’t due to her high placed heels. Everything seemingly valuable she had was in there, of course like her wallet, but phone and simply other valuables that belonged to her. Frank stood biting at the tip of his thumb before hearing the exclamation from Hazel’s mother, looking to the side just to see the man jump onto the back of a random man’s truck before pulling out a gun from his back pocket and aiming it at the driver’s head, yelling to drive or he’d have no problem shooting and taking over. The man, out of pure panic, did just as the thief said, revving the engine before taking off, the sound of the tires screeching against everyone’s ears in the area. Frank and Hazel stared at the man be driven down a few blocks, Frank’s brow lifting in confusion before the boy’s legs acted on their own. Hazel was sure if she had blinked, she would’ve missed it, yelling at him to not get involved with the dangerous figure. However, the kid was gone in less than a second, running down the same street as the mysterious man, somehow catching up to the car within about a minute and a half. The thief turned around just as Frank had reached the vehicle, immediately yelling at the man to go faster. If it were up to him, he probably would’ve shot him by now, yet he knew if he were to take the gun off the driver for nearly a second he would take advantage to screech it to a halt, sending him flying off. He held a speed at 40 mph, nothing any human could run or they would break apart. Now, as a kid Frank knew there was something a bit different about himself. Maybe it was the way he could grow his nails to the size of a bear and return them to normal at the thought of it; Or how he had already managed to be at the speed of a man who had trained all his life for a specific moment. Either way, the torment he earned from his aunt caused him to not use it at all costs, refusing to let her insulting to get any worse than it was, or perhaps slipping up and her blaming it on what he could do. Not using it made him forget about every inch of it, until the current moment of course. It was with a kick of adrenaline that he found himself still being able to catch up without stopping, racing by the eyes of people as if he were a lion chasing after its prey. The sidewalk had a stack of wood tall enough for him to realize his chance to getting on, him taking a bouncing step to it before using his speed from before to send himself flying forward, landing with his legs bent. Being in front of the actual guy at the moment made his momentum from before sink slightly, his stance doing the same as a new wave of panic overcame him. He was a kid in front of a man with a gun, how was he supposed to know what to do? Frank’s thoughts raced by quickly before settling on his objective in the first place, to get the purse back. The man, however, took his chances of swinging the weapon across the kid’s face, Frank not snapping back in time to react, causing him not to miss the cheek. Still, he was able to dodge the attempt of the criminal’s arm going in reverse, ducking before acting on the first idea that came to mind. Frank had kicked the bag up, more towards himself, out of the man’s weak grasp before hopping back on his arms, head close to the floor, kicking it back this time. However, the bag out of logic, went out of the car’s ratio as frank let his legs fall fully back before making a jump to catch it without thinking. He managed to catch it, tucking it into his chest as his body made contact with the street, as the kinetic energy of the truck caused his frame to roll forward, him reaching out to slow himself down to a stop while his hand dragged roughly against the street, peeling the skin of by a little less than expected. In the process of doing so, it was rather the nails that sprouted him out more than the tips of his fingers, the street acting as a file to them. Before the adrenaline stopped and Frank managed to convince himself otherwise, he got up as quickly as possible considering the amount of damage his body had just went through, knowing there was still a chance this man was a danger to those around him. Of course, Frank raised with nothing but violence seeing as what it did to him and how he lived and thought, he hated it with all his heart. Yet, in the current moment, seeing how fast he reacted to stopping violence that could affect anyone that wasn’t doing harm, made him realize that he’d prefer to protect others than think about where he was with the issue. His ears rang as his sight cleared a bit, before he began to move slowly yet surely going to the truck once again. The criminal didn’t go very far as it seemed his was in the middle of just leaving or getting back what he took in the first place, telling the frightened driver to stop. He stood, squinting around as if doing so would make the boy appear in front of him. Frank had managed to duck in a way to reach the front of the truck, placing the bag on the right side-view mirror before creeping onto the top of the car. He managed to move without making much noise for the culprit to notice his presence. Crouching on the roof of it, he began to contemplate going for it before seeing the movements of the other, as he tempted to get off to search for the minor himself. Getting this far, however, Frank knew if the wrongdoer were to step out of the truck, it would get way harder than his brain thought he could handle. Frank acted fast, slipping off the top, and landing behind the other before grabbing his arm and twisting it in a way where the weapon involuntarily dropped out of his grasp. Bending down, he picked it up and emptied the cartage of bullets, just in case if the other were to get his hands on it again, there would be no use, throwing the gun to the side. Even though what were to happen next took place in a matter of a few seconds, it seemed like minutes of concentration before Frank forced the strength of something that didn’t belong to him before crushing the item in his hands, squishing them together with both his palms. It was if the cartage was nothing more than a branch under an adult elephant’s weight. In reality, Frank was terrified of his own actions, knowing after this he would never use what he could do to show off or as an advantage to do anything that wasn’t protect. 

“You…you little-“ The man yelled before lunging forward, hoping to catch the minor in his arms. Frank saw his chance out of the entire situation, slipping under his attempt, making sure his own hand wrapped around one of the few baseball bats the driver had in a pouch, raising his posture a little.

‘This is gonna hurt. Pretty sure him more, but it’s going to hurt.’ Frank thought before transferring force from his arm to sports item, whacking the guy in the head with a loud smack. It was almost like a scene in Looney Tunes, where the person effected by whatever injury to the head made it shake slightly before their weight dragged them to the floor. Frank breathed heavily, staring at the backside of the now unconscious man, dropping the bat back where it was. He hopped off the truck to the side where he had left the purse, grabbing it before knocking on the window to get the driver’s attention, pointing and the trunk, giving a thumbs up, then making a motion to call the police so even when he gained consciousness again, he wouldn’t cause anymore trouble. The driver nodded forcefully, still in slight shock at the situation he was placed in, doing as told after thanking the other repeatedly from the other side of the window. He managed to call them, and the police being around the corner already we’re quick to catch the culprit in handcuffs, dragging him to the backseat of the car. Frank had gotten a decent distance, his mind and heart still racing at all he had just accomplished, being stopped by the sound of a warm, deep, yet friendly voice.

“Hey kid! Kid with the purse!” Frank, of course, knew he was probably the only one with that description, so he turned around to the person’s request, seeing him walking up to him before reaching his hand out. It was the driver, same one as before, though he took it upon himself to make and introduction. “The name’s Gilbert. Listen here that was a really brave thing you did back there, and I can’t express how much I appreciate you saving me—even if that wasn’t what you were aiming for. Please, let me do you a favor and take you back to those you were with, it’s the least I could do.” Gilbert had a good foot and four inches on Frank, making him about six feet and four inches in height, yet his smile looked like it wanted to do nothing but help. Frank pulled the purse more up his shoulder, making eye contact for a second before losing it and nodding slowly. He followed behind Gilbert, sliding into the passenger seat before they took off back to the Pandora store. Gilbert had stopped a few yards away, but it was nothing to complain about, Frank muttering a retched thank you before doing his best to get down the tall step away from the bottom of the truck. About to close the door, the man decided to say one last thing that gave Frank a small feeling of warmth. “You keep that heart of yours kid, it’s one thing you should try and cherish. Have a good day now, take care.” Frank nodded before shutting the door and watching Gilbert drive away, knowing it was probably the last time of ever seeing the stranger, turning the other way and trudging—pretty much limping—back to the shop that Hazel and Marie stood at. They both were freaking out the entire time since the boy had left their sight, hoping they hadn’t just let him run to his death. Hence, as soon as Hazel spotted his figure, she didn’t hesitate to walk the extra steps to him. Frank took the purse off his slightly bruised shoulder—matching the one already forming on his right cheek—before holding it in front of her. Marie, on the other hand, was completely stunned at the boy’s action. Practically speechless, she reached for the bag in his hand, grabbing it slowly, carefully saying what her mouth would let her. 

“Thank you so much, sweetheart. That was...something else. Promise me you won’t run into trouble like that again, it’s really okay, your being is more important than this. We’ll go get something for you to eat then...then we can go back and clean you up, all right?” Ms. Levesque instructed, tone concerned. Frank shrugged, worn out, going to step next to hazel to follow the mother where she led, the adrenaline deciding to run out as he went to take a step. His legs wobbled below him, causing the boy to stumble, Hazel catching him before he hit the floor.

“Woah, careful there.” Hazel warned, eyes also full of worry at the other’s state. Realistically, besides the visible bruise, smudges on his clothes, and small peelings of skin on his hands, the kid seemed in stable condition. Almost if he had failed to stick his landing when jumping off a swing. Frank hummed a sound slightly under his breath, evening himself out as his legs and hands still seemed to shake. The boy had just taken off, they had no idea what he had done or what he had just been through before seeing him in front of their eyes at the current moment. Frank had used a lot of the energy he didn’t have, with the running and the need to move fast around the dangerous man, still having not digested anything. It was a exhausting, for sure. It all admittedly causing his head to burn a bit all across the front, his eyes dilating to try and keep out as much light possible from his view. Both girls kept an eye on him as they walked back, Frank not being able to keep the ball of guilt from building up inside his stomach that he ended their shopping day so quickly. Nearing the car once again, he managed to convince them that there weren’t any broken bones to worry about by behaving as normal as he could. “Mom, what day is it?” Hazel asks, going to open the car door for the boy, but stopping as frank does it himself so she doesn’t worry as much as she was. 

“You mean day as in Thursday?” Marie answers, looking at her daughter in the rear-view mirror.

“Wait, it’s Thursday? Can we please go by the trucks to eat? I don’t think Frank has ever been there.” Hazel pleaded, gripping slightly on the seatbelt strapped across her body. Frank faced the curly-haired one beside him, brow raised at pure confusion at her words. Trucks? The bloody hell were trucks? Of course, he knew what they were, but ‘eating’ at one was nothing he had ever been told about.

“I guess so, is that fine with you, hun?” The mother asked, adjusting the mirror she was looking in correctly to the other child in the car. Frank simply looked forward, taking a few seconds before shrugging slightly, trying to work out how he would tell them that he wouldn’t be able to get anything either way due to the empty wallet in his left pocket. Either way, Ms.Levesque made a sound of acknowledgment shifting the gear in order to leave the parking lot. It was a quick ride, Hazel still taking cautious looks to the fragile boy beside her despite his efforts to convince her he was okay. The vibrant colors of the small area covered the view ahead as Marie stilled the car once again. She stepped out first, making her way to the back of the car, waiting for the minors to hop out. Frank in doing so, stumbled rather slightly once putting weight back on his weak ankle. Still, they traded in front of her, Hazel looking at the creative names of each small business. Although it was stereotypical, Frank’s attention was captured at the sushi stand, mostly due to the memories he got from the multitude of smiles his grandma used to give him whenever she would create a new type for him to try. His pace slowed to a stop as his eyes stayed on the option of ten california rolls for four dollars. Hazel stopped in her tracks as well, going to look behind her to see that both her mother and Frank had stopped walking, her going back to where they stood. Frank hated to admit that just the look of them made his mouth salivate and stomach growl with the meal and the need to devour it to replace the many missed ones for the past five days. Reality of his situation settled into his head, pushing most of the other thoughts of eating away as his eyes shifted away from the sign to the side to see Hazel arriving. 

“Is that what you want? I’ve never had sushi before, but my mom could get it for you?” Hazel chided, Frank’s brows being quick to furrow, shaking his head rapidly. He took his black leather wallet out, handing it towards her though he knew the lack of contents within it, wanting her to understand. Though, she pushed his arm back towards him. “Please, you got her purse back, and even if you didn’t, it’s fine. It’s the least we can do at least.” she shrugged, going to tap on her mother’s shoulder to notify her about the choice. Marie nodded, stepping in the line before asking what he wanted from the menu. Embarrassed, he pointed to the chalk board beside them with the special for his wanting, finally deciding to speak due to the normal ‘If I’m Getting Something For You, Which Is Never, I’m Getting Something Out Of It’ unspoken rule he had at ‘home’. With his voice low, he tapped the woman’s shoulder while Hazel’s attention was diverted, the mother leaning down to hear what the smaller one had to say.

“Y-You don’t have to get it, r-really it’s fine. It’s m-my fault for not s-saving up to go o-out.” His throat sounded like it had just gotten scraped to the core with sandpaper. It dropping a little lower than it actually was as due to the lack of usage, his dry tongue trying it’s best to form coherent words. Marie’s eyes widened slightly, her almost starting to believe maybe the boy was a mute, as he even refused to speak to someone he apparently knew already. 

“Honey, trust me it’s okay, you just go with Hazel while I order all right?” Ms. Levesque assured him, causing the other to find his feet more interesting rather than the bush beside her before, direct eye contact not being something he would do voluntarily. He padded over to the girl, sitting on the small bench beside her, noticing the way her eyes were captured greatly by kids playing around the glistering pond. It was a handful of minutes later before the mother came back with the dish and three large lemonades from another truck handing one to each of them, and the small tray to Frank. “You decided what you wanted yet, Hazel?” Her mother questioned.  
“No, honestly I would’ve or /would/ get the same thing as him, but i don’t want waste it if I don’t like it.” Hazel added, before taking a sip of the drink in her grasp. Frank, on the other hand, opened his mouth, aiming the occupied chopstick towards it before stopping as he ran over the interaction between the girls in his head. To help out, he held the piece of food towards the girl for her to try. “Frank, no don’t worry it’s okay. I’m sure you haven’t eaten in a while, you should do so now.” She lowered her voice at the last part, yet the boy refused to drop his arm. Seeing as he wouldn’t budge, Hazel sighed before picking the piece of food from the utensils. “Do you just eat it all at once?” She asks, Frank nodding, as she looks at him, though she could never seem to catch his eyes, doing as instructed. In the back of her head, something told her she wouldn’t like it, causing her conscience to be slightly shocked when the assortment of flavors that hit her tongue made her light up. Just by the look in her eyes, Marie smirked, turning to order another tray with no words needing to be expressed. Guilt settled in the pit of Frank’s empty stomach at how he couldn’t pay either of them back for doing something for him that for any other, would be normal. Yet, growing up in a household where nothing but spoiled milk and moldy bread sat in the fridge, he wasn’t used to the act on any level. Still, he slowly lifted the piece of food upwards towards his mouth, staring at it and its contents. He chose to push down the rising feeling, and begin to eat, one of them already making his cheeks blow up due to the fact that he was, in fact, a really small kid. His complexion basically yelled delicate, though the way he went after the man earlier made Hazel think he was unlike most of what she was thinking. He had about three pieces of food in his mouth somehow, going for his fourth before even fully chewing the others before looking up slightly to Hazel, seeing how her brows were creased in confusion, yet the mini grin on her face showed it wasn’t anything to be brought up. Though the eyes on him was quick to make the red in the boy’s neck creep up to his ears as he looked back to his plate, deciding to actually digest what food he had in his mouth at the moment. It was agreeable to most who saw him that he was an adorable child, though it wouldn’t be vocally expressed, especially to his face. Still, by the time the mother came back with Hazel’s food, Frank had already finished his own meal, hopping down from the piece of cement he was sitting on, his shoes hitting the grass softly with the lack of weight from the body that carried them. Once dumping the tray down the box that stood by the sidewalk, Frank looked up to see small families sitting in their own spots, enjoying each others presences as they ate, a few younger on sitting on the father’s shoulders. One acted as if he was a pilot, pulling the imaginary wheel in front of them up and around and the parent below them matched the movements, bringing the pictures in the infant’s mind to life. The image didn’t make Frank feel any sort of pity for himself at the absence of any figure identical in his life, but rather a sense of hope that maybe he could be in the father’s shoes one day. That is, if there was anyone willing to fall for someone like him. He was sent to the streets for a reason, right? Frank snapped out of his thoughts, turning to walk back to the two he was with, grabbing Hazel’s plate and drink, quickly dumping it for her seeing as she was finished. She spoke a surprised ‘thank you’ as he waddled back again. He would’ve guessed it was time to leave before Hazel spoke up once again. “Do you think before we leave Frank could try Waffle Love? Their truck is up today and they’ve got a new one.” She pleases, gesturing towards the said stand behind her, Frank still taking sips from the cup too large for the boy’s small hands. Marie simply nodded her head with a smile, as they all padded up to the counter, Frank taking careful steps while hiding behind the mother’s figure, shrugging when Hazel asked which waffle dessert he wanted as he knew nothing of what it was. Still, they walked away with a cinnamon bun-like waffle for him, and a nutella strawberry and chocolate one for the girl he walked beside. Hazel was quick to take a bite, savoring the difference of flavors before turning towards the boy. “You /have/ to try mine, please! This is a once-in-a-lifetime thing, I’m surprised we even got it.” She rambled, Frank looking just to the right of her eyes a few times while trying to look at them directly. She muttered “here,” taking the spork that sat in him plate, offering it back to him after she took a piece off from her dessert to him. At the moment Frank decided to taste it, his face twisted into one of disgust as his jaw moved slowly to chew. “What? You don’t like it?” Hazel pondered in disbelief, Frank knowing what it was as he pointed to the brown chocolate parts of the pastry, making it that whatever it was, it was what he didn’t like about it. Hazel eyes widened in realization upon the situation, almost yelling out after. “YOU DON’T LIKE CHOCOLATE?!” Frank flinched back, holding his own dessert near him, his brows furrowing at how the girl’s voice seemed to raise in pitch so much, moving his head in a way that read ‘I guess not.’ “Unbelievable. Wh-How could you not? That’s practically impossible, /EVERYONE/ likes chocolate! Especially these types of chocolates!” Hazel rants, getting frustrated and deciding to shut herself up by shoving another piece in her mouth, Frank enjoying his own quietly. They were moderately small for the two, them being able to finish it before they reached the car, the boy never having experienced something so sweet hit his tongue. Now having nutrients, at least more than before, one side of Frank’s mouth subconsciously stayed upturned as they drove back to Hazel’s. The entire thing about Sundays usually being an ‘out day’ was that Hazel’s mother worked as a nurse, also explaining the constant germ and disease topic that still frightened the daughter to a degree at her age. This, however, also added to how the home was practically empty the entire week, Marie only being able to come home and rest at certain moments, though she usually stayed at the hospital. All of it at the same time making it easier for her to tend to the boy as she cleaned him up, wrapping a bandage wrap around his forearm and right ankle due to the non-fatal cuts he got from rolling off the truck, stopping himself quickly enough to prevent them. Frank bowed slightly after, his way of a sincere thanks without his voice, Marie grinning to where the sides of her face closed her eyes faintly.

“Go on, you can stay a little longer, I’m gonna have to explain this to whoever is coming to pick you up. Thank you again, hun. I really do appreciate what you did.” She told him, leaving him more speechless than he already was, from not forcing him to pay for his own food to the bandages on his he didn’t wrap on his own. It was definitely new. 

“C’mon, I wanna show you something.” Hazel spoke excitedly, the idea of the game console she had running through head. Frank’s brows grew close to each other one again, curiosity entering his mind once again. He began to follow behind her, where her path was to the basement once again, but taking a double look to the side once they passed by the family room, spotting the upright piano Hazel had mentioned earlier that day. He stopped in his tracks, eyes not wandering off it, the girl ahead of him not hearing his light steps behind her, causing her to turn around the wall frame that started the hall to the rooms. She stepped forward, going to see what his attention was focused on, first thought being that he had never seen a piano in real life. Meanwhile, Frank fingers began to tingle once again, the sensation of the white and black keys yelling their need to be played after so long. “You can try it out if you want, no one really uses it anyway.” Hazel shrugged, Frank shaking his head quickly before continuing to follow her where she directed. Once they were downstairs, a deathly quiet sound arose from behind Hazel's head, her focusing on it once it was acknowledged.

“I-I have a question, how come you and your friends are so quick to assume i'm worth caring for. You bought me food for goodness sake, I've never heard anyone do that before...” Frank spoke up, voice having an after-rasp like tone of someone who had just come back from yelling their lungs out at a concert. Hazel’s body tensed up, eyes widening as her grip on her gameboy tightened, slowly turning around to face the now-speaking boy. His voice was a perfect example of what someone would sound like in the midst of it changing from child to teenager.

“Holy shit….” Hazel muttered, Frank’s face not dying down from it’s red color, not knowing the meaning behind the use of her words. 

“Sorry? D-Did I do something?” He asked nervously, hands subconsciously going to crack his knuckles to calm himself down.

“What? No, wait, no no! You’re good, I just…wasn’t expecting that, I’m sorry.” She explained, looking down at her game and back at him.

“That’s fine, sorry for not saying anything before this though, couldn’t bring myself to, I guess.” His arm hung, hand on the back of his neck to do so, the other resting on the edge of the bed as he swung his legs slightly. The fact that his voice was added to the picture seemed to build on more to his timid personality. If anything, it had a bit of an accent. Almost like a crossover between American, British, and something else she couldn’t place. 

“What do you mean? You're a kid just like us, we might not know where you came from or your background, but you needed help. You could've died out in the rain like that y'know, no one deserves to die.” Hazel inquired, trying to piece her thoughts together.

Frank nodded, slightly shocked as he had been told the opposite his entire life. Hazel made an expression of acknowledgement, not expecting yet respecting his decision to not respond audibly. She rolled down her sleeves and a realization of how cold the room was hit his body, sending a shiver down his spine and all throughout his body. Hazel tried to get the game started, hence her attention diverted, not wanting to question the boy so soon after he decided to open his mouth. Meanwhile, Frank's animal-lined body tried to give him the adaptation of the freezing room, going after an arctic wolf who lived in the snow. His body seemed to warm down slightly, yet he still had goosebumps lining his arms. Music flowed out of the gameboy Hazel held, her smiling successfully as she stood up to walk towards Frank so the game could be within view for him. 

“Here look,” She spoke looking to him, their eyes connecting, only for Hazel’s to become the size of saucers. “Wh…What happened to your eyes?” Sure they hadn’t made much to almost no eye contact the entire time within knowing him, yet Hazel was still aware of the dark brown orbs the boy had, mixed with lighter brown that seemed to appear in smudges in the colored area. When looking at him now, his eyes were one of the lightest blues she had ever seen. Around his his pupil was two shades from being clear, darker blue spots decorating the icy color is swirls. In other words, the complete opposite from what she saw before. Instead of waiting for an answer-which he didn’t have, unaware himself-she took into account the way his arms were wrapped around himself, the bumps all across them. She turned around to the closet that had blankets and extra pillows grabbing a large soft red blanket and draping it around his shoulders, apologizing quietly as she got one for herself as well. It was within a few minutes that his eyes returned to their regular shade, Hazel convincing herself she had just been seeing things. 

“Hazel! Where are you guys?” Her head turned towards the noise coming from the first floor where her mother shouted, going up to her quickly yet quietly so the mom wouldn’t know the basement was in use. “Hey honey, where’s Frank?” 

“Oh, he left already, saying he was fine and also thank you for everything. His mom came to pick him up like ten minutes ago.” Hazel lied.

“Really? Oh brother, that’s a shame. I wanted to apologize and explain th-“

“No, it’s fine! I told her about it and she understood perfectly and actually told me to thank you for taking care of him after.” She informed her, Marie’s eyebrows raising slightly in surprise, yet nodding and confirming the words.

“All right then I guess…go shower and sleep now, remember you have school tomorrow.” Hazel nodded turning back and padding down the stairs to inform Frank about her responsibilities before bidding him goodnight. Frank nodded, taking the large sweater and loose pink pants given to him for sleepwear and changing into them after the girl had left. The sleeves went way past his hands, one side of it close to exposing his shoulder as he shuffled into the bed silently, staring up at the dark ceiling, mind full of thoughts for a few hours before slipping off into slumber.


End file.
